The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has been growing in importance for the automotive industry over the years. You can hardly fail to notice that this year, as in previous years, the big automakers vie for floor space and attention with the glut of big screen TVs and other consumer goods. As always, BlacBerry-QNX will be in the North Hall, proudly in the middle of the big automotive OEMs. At CES BlacBerry-QNX has an enviable history of bringing concept cars that rival anything on the show floor, with one important difference – ours are not pure flights of fancy, and we show technologies that will become realities in the near future.We started this trend back in 2010 with an LTE-connected Toyota Prius – 18 months before the first commercial LTE deployment in mid-2011. Working with Alcatel-Lucent to provide the experimental network, we demonstrated Google maps functionality with local search and an embedded Pandora radio app in a car for the first time. Connectivity is standard in many cars today, but in 2010 we demonstrated the future.
BlackBerry’s QNX Still Dominates Car Market, but For How Much Longer?
BlackBerry’s QNX Still Dominates Car Market, but For How Much Longer?
BlackBerry acquired QNX Systems in 2010. Back then, it was still called Research In Motion. A lot has changed since then, including the name.
One thing that has not changed, though, is QNX’s impressive marketshare of the automboile industry’s “infotainment” space—you know, all the new-fangled, problematic interfaces most new cars come with these days. QNX, born in Ottawa in the ’80s by two University of Waterloo, owns more than half the market. And it’s a fast-growing one, too.
QNX isn’t a massive part of BlackBerry’s overall revenue—around 3% to 5%, according to some estimates—but the automobile industry is half of QNX’s revenue. Which is why it’s a little wary of the sudden appearance of Google’s Android platform in motor vehicles today.
The connected-car market is expected to be worth more than $50 billion by 2015, according to a 2013 forecast from the GSM Association of mobile operators, which is more than triple its value today. That’s a big opportunity for QNX—and its competitors, which includes not only Google, but also Apple, the world’s most valuable company.
via BlackBerry’s QNX Still Dominates Car Market, but For How Much Longer?.